Tom's Blog

U.S. Soldier Arrested, Accused Of Trying To Provide Material Support To ISIS

A U.S. soldier who allegedly tried to support ISIS with classified military documents, training services and a financial donation has been arrested. Ikaika Erik Kang, a sergeant first class in the Army, has been on active duty, serving as an air traffic controller at Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii.

An FBI agent named Jimmy Chen’s affidavit filed with a federal court in Honolulu says Kang’s superiors became concerned that he had been radicalized and called in the FBI. Agents secretly examined his computer hard drives and found the documents, along with videos and other materials that led them to go undercover to make him think he was in touch with the extremist group.

Kang told the agent, who posed as guest lecturer, that ISIS was “just fighting people who were committing genocide.” But he said he was wary of meeting with ISIS in person or on the Internet because he was afraid the FBI “will show up at my door.”

The affidavit outlines how agents documented Kang’s efforts to provide sensitive documents, to make training videos on combat techniques and to pay half the price of a drone for ISIS fighters. The agent notes that Kang said he wanted to help ISIS and did not ask to be paid.

The agent says Kang pledged allegiance to ISIS on July 8 and he was arrested that day. He made an initial court appearance on Monday.

The affidavit alleges that Kang had been reprimanded by Army superiors as early as 2011 for threatening other service members and for arguing in favor of ISIS while at work. The Army called in the FBI last August.

Kang served in Afghanistan from July 20, 2013 to March 22, 2014 and in Iraq from March 15, 2010 to Feb. 22, 2011.